completar — Spanish conjugation

to complete

Frequency#142Regular

Indicative

Present (Presente) Regular

The present tense is the most versatile tense in Spanish. It covers actions happening right now, habitual actions, and even near-future plans. One form does the work of three English constructions.

Ella habla inglés — She speaks / is speaking English

PronounSpanishEnglish
yocompletoI complete
completasyou complete
voscompletásyou complete
él/ella/Ud.completahe/she/it completes
nosotroscompletamoswe complete
vosotroscompletáisyou (pl.) complete
ellos/ellas/Uds.completanthey complete

Preterite (Pretérito indefinido) Regular

Used for completed past actions with a defined endpoint — a single event, a series of events, or an action that interrupted another. Common with time expressions like ayer, el lunes, una vez.

Ella habló de ti ayer — She spoke about you yesterday

PronounSpanishEnglish
yocompletéI completed
completasteyou completed
voscompletasteyou completed
él/ella/Ud.completóhe/she/it completed
nosotroscompletamoswe completed
vosotroscompletasteisyou (pl.) completed
ellos/ellas/Uds.completaronthey completed

Imperfect (Pretérito imperfecto) Regular

Describes ongoing or habitual past states — what things were like, background context, what used to happen. Contrasts with the preterite which marks completed events.

Cuando era niño vivía en Valencia — When I was a child I lived in Valencia

PronounSpanish
yocompletaba
completabas
voscompletabas
él/ella/Ud.completaba
nosotroscompletábamos
vosotroscompletabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.completaban

Conditional (Condicional) Regular

Expresses hypothetical actions, polite requests, and what would happen under certain conditions. Also used for reported speech about the future from a past perspective.

¿Podrías ayudarme? — Could you help me?

PronounSpanishEnglish
yocompletaríaI would complete
completaríasyou would complete
voscompletaríasyou would complete
él/ella/Ud.completaríahe/she/it would complete
nosotroscompletaríamoswe would complete
vosotroscompletaríaisyou (pl.) would complete
ellos/ellas/Uds.completaríanthey would complete

Future (Futuro) Regular

Expresses future actions, predictions, and probability about the present. Formed with the full infinitive as stem for most verbs. In spoken Spanish, ir a + infinitive is often preferred for near future.

Ella hablará en conferencia mañana — She will speak at the conference tomorrow

PronounSpanishEnglish
yocompletaréI will complete
completarásyou will complete
voscompletarásyou will complete
él/ella/Ud.completaráhe/she/it will complete
nosotroscompletaremoswe will complete
vosotroscompletaréisyou (pl.) will complete
ellos/ellas/Uds.completaránthey will complete

Present perfect (Pretérito perfecto) Regular

A compound past tense linking a past action to the present moment — something that has happened and still feels recent or relevant. More common in Spain than Latin America where preterite is preferred.

Hoy he hablado con el jefe — Today I have spoken with the boss

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohe completadoI have completed
has completadoyou have completed
voshas completadoyou have completed
él/ella/Ud.ha completadohe/she/it has completed
nosotroshemos completadowe have completed
vosotroshabéis completadoyou (pl.) have completed
ellos/ellas/Uds.han completadothey have completed

Pluperfect (Pretérito pluscuamperfecto) Regular

The past of the past — describes an action that was already completed before another past event happened. Always implies a reference point in the past.

Ya había hablado cuando llegaste — She had already spoken when you arrived

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohabía completadoI had completed
habías completadoyou had completed
voshabías completadoyou had completed
él/ella/Ud.había completadohe/she/it had completed
nosotroshabíamos completadowe had completed
vosotroshabíais completadoyou (pl.) had completed
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían completadothey had completed

Conditional perfect (Condicional perfecto) Regular

Expresses what would have happened — actions that were possible but did not occur, or regrets about the past. Formed with conditional of haber + past participle.

Habría hablado, pero no me dejaron — I would have spoken, but they did not let me

PronounSpanish
yohabría completado
habrías completado
voshabrías completado
él/ella/Ud.habría completado
nosotroshabríamos completado
vosotroshabríais completado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrían completado

Future perfect (Futuro perfecto) Regular

Describes an action that will have been completed by a certain point in the future, or expresses probability about a recent past action.

Para el lunes habré terminado — By Monday I will have finished

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohabré completadoI will have completed
habrás completadoyou will have completed
voshabrás completadoyou will have completed
él/ella/Ud.habrá completadohe/she/it will have completed
nosotroshabremos completadowe will have completed
vosotroshabréis completadoyou (pl.) will have completed
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán completadothey will have completed

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjuntivo presente) Regular

Used in subordinate clauses after expressions of desire, doubt, emotion, necessity, or impersonal statements. Triggered by a change of subject between the main and subordinate clause.

Espero que hable — I hope she speaks

PronounSpanish
yocomplete
completes
voscompletes
él/ella/Ud.complete
nosotroscompletemos
vosotroscompletéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.completen

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra) (Subjuntivo imperfecto (-ra)) Regular

The past subjunctive used after past main verbs, in if-clauses with conditional, and for polite softening. The -ra form is more common in everyday speech than the -se form.

Si pudiera, lo haría — If I could, I would do it

PronounSpanish
yocompletara
completaras
voscompletaras
él/ella/Ud.completara
nosotroscompletáramos
vosotroscompletarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.completaran

Imperfect subjunctive (-se) (Subjuntivo imperfecto (-se)) Regular

The alternative past subjunctive form. Interchangeable with -ra in most contexts but slightly more literary or formal. Both forms are grammatically correct in all regions.

Si pudiese, lo haría — If I could, I would do it

PronounSpanish
yocompletase
completases
voscompletases
él/ella/Ud.completase
nosotroscompletásemos
vosotroscompletaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.completasen

Perfect subjunctive (Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) Regular

A compound subjunctive that expresses completed actions in a subjunctive context — used after present or future main verbs expressing doubt, emotion or desire.

Dudo que ya haya llegado — I doubt she has already arrived

PronounSpanish
yohaya completado
hayas completado
voshayas completado
él/ella/Ud.haya completado
nosotroshayamos completado
vosotroshayáis completado
ellos/ellas/Uds.hayan completado

Pluperfect subjunctive (Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) Regular

Expresses what had happened in hypothetical or unreal past contexts — the subjunctive equivalent of the pluperfect. Common in contrary-to-fact past conditions.

Si hubiera hablado, lo habrían creído — If she had spoken, they would have believed her

PronounSpanish
yohubiera completado
hubieras completado
voshubieras completado
él/ella/Ud.hubiera completado
nosotroshubiéramos completado
vosotroshubierais completado
ellos/ellas/Uds.hubieran completado

Other forms

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo afirmativo) Regular

Direct commands and instructions. The imperative only exists for tú, usted, nosotros, vosotros and ustedes — yo has no command form. Affirmative and negative forms use different conjugations.

Habla más despacio — Speak more slowly

PronounSpanish
completa
voscompletá
él/ella/Ud.complete
nosotroscompletemos
vosotroscompletad
ustedescompleten

Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Regular

Negative commands use the subjunctive forms for all persons. Formed with no + present subjunctive. This applies to all persons including tú where the affirmative uses a different form.

No hables tan rápido — Do not speak so fast

PronounSpanish
no completes
vosno completes
él/ella/Ud.no complete
nosotrosno completemos
vosotrosno completéis
ustedesno completen

Present progressive (Presente progresivo) Regular

Emphasises that an action is happening right now at this very moment. Less common than in English since the present tense already covers ongoing actions in Spanish.

Estoy hablando contigo — I am speaking with you

PronounSpanish
yoestoy completando
estás completando
vosestás completando
él/ella/Ud.está completando
nosotrosestamos completando
vosotrosestáis completando
ellos/ellas/Uds.están completando

Preterite progressive (Pretérito indefinido progresivo) Regular

Describes an action that was in progress throughout a completed past period. Uses the preterite of estar + gerund to emphasise the ongoing nature within a defined timeframe.

Estuvo hablando toda la tarde — He was talking all afternoon

PronounSpanish
yoestuve completando
estuviste completando
vosestuviste completando
él/ella/Ud.estuvo completando
nosotrosestuvimos completando
vosotrosestuvisteis completando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estuvieron completando

Imperfect progressive (Pretérito imperfecto progresivo) Regular

Emphasises an ongoing background action using the imperfect of estar + gerund. Layered on top of the imperfect which already conveys continuity — used for extra emphasis on the progressive nature.

Estaba hablando cuando entró — I was speaking when he came in

PronounSpanish
yoestaba completando
estabas completando
vosestabas completando
él/ella/Ud.estaba completando
nosotrosestábamos completando
vosotrosestabais completando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estaban completando

Conditional progressive (Condicional progresivo) Regular

Expresses what would be in progress under hypothetical conditions. Uses the conditional of estar + gerund. Less common but used for emphasis on the ongoing nature of a hypothetical action.

Estaría hablando ahora si pudiera — I would be speaking now if I could

PronounSpanish
yoestaría completando
estarías completando
vosestarías completando
él/ella/Ud.estaría completando
nosotrosestaríamos completando
vosotrosestaríais completando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarían completando

Future progressive (Futuro progresivo) Regular

Describes an action that will be in progress at a future point, or expresses probability about an ongoing present action. Uses the future of estar + gerund.

Mañana a esta hora estaré viajando — At this time tomorrow I will be travelling

PronounSpanish
yoestaré completando
estarás completando
vosestarás completando
él/ella/Ud.estará completando
nosotrosestaremos completando
vosotrosestaréis completando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarán completando